Today we learned a new exercise for Jewel to help strengthen her muscles for swallow control.
It is called Shaker/Shakir exercise;
"the child lies flat on back, (assist if you need to use two people to help with posture and positioning- Jewel needs this.) Encourage them to raise their head, help them as needed and slowly get them to touch their chin on chest, or as much as able to. Their shoulders should not raise-very important because if the shoulders come up you are using a different group of muscles. Get the child to look at their toes. Slowly with control and a little help the head goes down. Try stay relaxed, breathing " out" on the up and "in" on the down. I found a great web page that has this exercise and many more, check it out. Repetition and consistency is key to be able to see results. If I drop the ball Jewel fails, but if I am consistent she will progress and reap the benefits.
Shaker Exercise
Lie flat on your back and raise your head as though you were trying to fixate your gaze on your toes. While you do this, make sure not to raise your shoulders. This simple exercise improves swallowing ability if it is performed three to six times per day for at least six weeks. If you get good at it, increase the duration of each head lift and the number of repetitions.Hyoid Lift Maneuver
This is a rather simple exercise, although it may sound more like a task performed in one of those reality TV shows. Place a few small pieces of paper (about 1 inch in diameter) over a blanket or a towel. Then place a straw in your mouth and suck one of the pieces of paper to its tip. Keep sucking on the straw to keep the paper attached, bring it over a cup or a similar container and stop sucking. This will release the paper into the container. Your goal is to place about 5 to 10 pieces of paper into the container.http://stroke.about.com/od/caregiverresources/qt/swallowxrcs.htm
The second exercise we did was with a candy cane. She is in her wheel chair and she sees the candy can on the table, she brings her head down, like a chin tuck and you put the candy can by her mouth and she has to suck. This is to help the muscles in the lip get stretched and form a tight lip closure. This will help with drinking safely with out drooling and with her "p,b, m"- sounds for speech. Some children can do other exercises to help with lip closure but in Jewel's condition this is the best exercise that will help her. After each suck and swallow, help the child get their heads back up and take time to catch their breath. This is very tiring for them, be encouraging and remind them; no teeth, no bitting - just sucking. :) We have seen gains in Jewel's drinking with these techniques, this will help her get stronger and hopefully get more control thus becoming safer. Her breathing sounds less wet and rattily since doing all her new swallow strengthening games and exercises. Staying calm and relaxed is a challenge for her but she is always making strides. I am grateful to all the therapists who have helped teach us how to best help our daughter. Some of these therapists are so talented and they truly have a gift and calling in their field of expertise. They have come alongside us and changed our quality of life, thank you! I am learning that it is me who is changing and becoming a better person because of my daughter, Jewel. Thank you Jewel! Thank you Raven and Makena who always come alongside Jewel and help her. They have learned to help their sister in feeding, drinking, and speech. Not an easy task but a worthy one. They encourage Jewel to use a full sentence and they constantly ask more of her, daily laughing and singing with her. Today she sang and it was truly a delightful moment. We must take nothing for granted and always be willing to go the extra mile for our children.
-"It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him/her" John Steinbeck
No comments:
Post a Comment